Thread: What am I doing wrong

I went and assessed a property last week. Mada a very nice proposal, And presented it to her. She had two apartments that probably had an acre of grass with the two, one if them was fenced so I'd have to get into it with a 21 push. She also wanted me to prune bushes as needed at one apartment, and do leaves in the fall. I quoted her 230 a month/12months for both properties. That included mowing 10/days, hedge Trimming, and leaves in the fall. I don't feel like I was high on the bid at all. Was not getting this account a blessing or a curse?Posted via Mobile Device

you can make decent money working your way up in the ranks until you are ready to go out on your own.

Who taught you how to bid? who taught you how to mow/trim etc?
How many years of experience do you have?

I see more and more 'kids' going out alone, fresh and getting bewildered why men with years of experience are doing so much better, and why it's not 'easy'

Would you let a 'kid' work on your house, or your diesel engine? or set the hair trigger on your best IDPA pistol?

It's simple…. the business isn't as easy as one assumes it is.
It's actually kind of insulting when someone says it's easy and anyone can do it.
People throw themselves at this industry year after year because for some reason, it looks like easy money.

Get experienced, get trained. THEN do it.

every once in a while there is opportunity for the paper boy to grow his lawn mowing business into an actual enterprise, but how long does it take the 12 year old boy to make it? usually ten years or so.
After he's done it through high school, college and having been supported by his parents the whole time.
by then hes kicking a pretty established business.

you can make decent money working your way up in the ranks until you are ready to go out on your own.

Who taught you how to bid? who taught you how to mow/trim etc?
How many years of experience do you have?

I see more and more 'kids' going out alone, fresh and getting bewildered why men with years of experience are doing so much better, and why it's not 'easy'

Would you let a 'kid' work on your house, or your diesel engine? or set the hair trigger on your best IDPA pistol?

It's simple…. the business isn't as easy as one assumes it is.
It's actually kind of insulting when someone says it's easy and anyone can do it.
People throw themselves at this industry year after year because for some reason, it looks like easy money.

Get experienced, get trained. THEN do it.

every once in a while there is opportunity for the paper boy to grow his lawn mowing business into an actual enterprise, but how long does it take the 12 year old boy to make it? usually ten years or so.
After he's done it through high school, college and having been supported by his parents the whole time.
by then hes kicking a pretty established business.

Agree with this. I had experience working for another company when I first started, and by then I was not at all a kid anymore. I still got out there the first summer and really simply didn't have a clue. Didn't know how to bid, didn't know how to do a bunch of the work. I learned a lot, but would have been much better suited with even more experience working with an actual company before making the leap.

To the original poster. I'm sure you are not going to just give up and go work for someone else, even if that might be the best thing right now. Set goals for yourself each year and come up with a business plan. Try to stick to it and learn from your mistakes. Most importantly, become numbers guy. Learn what it costs you to operate. Bid your jobs based on that.

I agree with both sides of the advice. Working for someone is great, but you may not learn everything. I was never taught how to bid, but was taught everything else. So it all depends who you work for.

For the bid itself, don't get down about it. If your landing every bid, then you have a real problem on your hands. Try to see what you did wrong, or what you could do better. Go over your numbers again and figure out if you made a mistake. Keep plugging away at it.

I did a bid the other day for a brand new million dollar home. The owner and wife haven't even moved in yet, thats how new it is. In his email, he stated he only wanted biweekly service because in his mind it would be cheaper. I included 2 quotes. 1 for biweekly and the other for full maintenance. The full maint quote was to "remind" him there are other things to be done than just mowing the grass. He said my quotes were a lot of money. Spending $300 a month for full maintenance is a lot? Heck he just spend $1,000,000 on a home!

The moral is, people are people. Good luck trying to figure them out! Keep plugging a long and keep handing out bids to get more comfortable.

Hey guys, thanks a lot for all the input. There is no way I'm selling out to be the help for a another guy. Sorry, but that is not an option. I am learning daily to grow my knowledge. Thanks for all the help so far.Posted via Mobile Device